This review is for the bakery, not the whole store. The store in general is very good, with good customer service. The bakery is a different story. God help you if you want a custom cake...or even just acknowledgement of your presence.
I chose a grocery store bakery for a custom cake because I figured it would be simple. But...
- While I was doing some shopping, I asked the bakery how far in advance I needed to order a custom cake. I was told "24 hours." Great, wonderful, my event was a week away. Plenty of time.
- A few days later, I decided to put my order in early. I called three days before the event to ask if the bakery was still open, since it was about 5:30pm at that time. A man who works in the main store told me yes, they were open, but there was a "new girl who can't handle custom cakes" working today. He said the bakery hours are 6am-7pm, so they were technically still open, but if I came by today, I wouldn't be able to order a cake. Weird, but fine, I thought.
- So, I went into the store the next day at 3:00. I stood at the bakery that was clearly open, but no workers were to be seen anywhere. Above my head was a big monitor advertising custom cakes. After about six minutes, a woman walked by behind me and entered the bakery area. She did not say a word to me, or even look at me. She began opening boxes. After a minute, I said, "Hi, can you help me?" She looked surprised and said, "Yes?" I told her I wanted to order a custom cake. She immediately told me that I'd have to order one from the bakery manager, who was only there until 2:00pm on weekdays. Um...okay. Bizarre. So customers can only order custom cakes until 2:00pm each day? Well...since I wouldn't be able to come in person the next day (I was working), I asked this lady, "Can I order a custom cake by phone with your manager?" She said no, it had to be in person. Double bizarre. I thanked her and left the bakery area. Because this seemed so strange to me, I went to ask a store manager if this information was right. The store manager wouldn't talk to me, but a regular employee went to ask her inside an office and came back and told me it was a "language thing", and he told me to call back tomorrow and ask for the bakery manager by name. He said, "It will take you a while to get through, but just call and ask for her." Weird, but fine, I thought.
- Attempt #3 was just as nice. I called the next day and it rang for about ten minutes. Finally a man answered, and I asked for the bakery. He said, "Okay," and then yelled to someone in the background, "Hey, how do you do this?" (I assume he meant transfer the call.) I was on hold again until the line cut off. I called back, this time asking for the store manager in hopes she would connect me to the bakery. An employee answered and I said, "Is Marilyn working today?" he said, "Yes...I don't know where she is, though. Let me go look." I was on hold for about 10 minutes. Finally I just decided to use my lunch break to go to the bakery in person. I walked up to the area, where again there were no workers. I asked a deli guy for help. He said, "Yeah, whadda you need?" I said, "Is Janet working today?" He said yes, and went to get her from the back. Janet appeared and asked me what she could help me with. I said I would like to order a custom cake. She immediately appeared annoyed. "When by?" she asked. "It's for an event tomorrow afternoon," I said. She instantly said no, that was not enough time. No apology or anything, just a big NO. She said they needed at least 24 hours for a custom cake (which I knew -- that's why I attempted to order it three days ahead). I explained to her that I'd tried twice before, and she said, "All I have is marble and chocolate, I can't do what you want." I left.
If you love terrible customer service, look no further than the Ralph's bakery on Alameda in Burbank. That whole department is a joke. I'm no Karen, but this department brought out all the Karen in me.
I went to Pavilions down the street and got a stunning cake that same day.
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